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A review by daniellestarredpages
Abeni's Song by P. Djèlí Clark
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I've enjoyed another book by P. Djeli Clark before, so I was very interested in this book. From what I know, this is Clark's first Middle-Grade novel; unfortunately, it is very easy to tell.
There were inconsistencies in the language used in this book. The words spoken by Abeni matched what you would expect from a child her age, however, her internal monologue switched from "age-appropriate" (for lack of a better term) to too old. The writing that described things outside of Abeni's thoughts also seemed a bit out of place in a middle-grade novel and I found it jarring and struggled to get 0past it. I think this is something other readers can look past to enjoy this book more than I did and I hope that does happen.
The idea behind the book was quite interesting and I think the story itself was written well. The character work was an enjoyable element of the book with each character in the ensemble being distinct. I think a lot of the character interactions within the group were summarised and told to us by Abeni instead of us seeing it for ourselves, that is another element that I think took away my enjoyment of the book.
Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectation but I do have hope for other works by the author.
There were inconsistencies in the language used in this book. The words spoken by Abeni matched what you would expect from a child her age, however, her internal monologue switched from "age-appropriate" (for lack of a better term) to too old. The writing that described things outside of Abeni's thoughts also seemed a bit out of place in a middle-grade novel and I found it jarring and struggled to get 0past it. I think this is something other readers can look past to enjoy this book more than I did and I hope that does happen.
The idea behind the book was quite interesting and I think the story itself was written well. The character work was an enjoyable element of the book with each character in the ensemble being distinct. I think a lot of the character interactions within the group were summarised and told to us by Abeni instead of us seeing it for ourselves, that is another element that I think took away my enjoyment of the book.
Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectation but I do have hope for other works by the author.